


Lethal Love

by WhiteHawkHarringrove



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gang World, BAMF Steve, Billy Hargrove Needs Love, Hurt Steve Harrington, Loss of Parent(s), Multi, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-06-26
Packaged: 2019-10-19 18:12:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 6,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17606393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteHawkHarringrove/pseuds/WhiteHawkHarringrove
Summary: Steve Harrington. Everyone knew that name in Hawkins. The thought of the ruthless, bloodthirsty leader of the gang Mortala sent shivers down the whole town's spine. Few people knew him, few people wanted to. He has his sights set a new blond in town.... and Steve Harrington always get's his way.OrSteve Harrington is the ruthless leader of the gang Mortala, when the Demogorgon gang shows up after 20 years, Steve makes it his mission to take them down





	1. El Diablo

**Author's Note:**

  * For [peirypatt](https://archiveofourown.org/users/peirypatt/gifts).



> A special thank you to peirypatt for helping me figure out where I was going with this.

Nobody quite knows the reason why Steve 'El Diablo' Harrington ended up this way. Maybe it was the accident... maybe it was the pressure. They never really knew. All they knew was that he snapped after the death of his parents. Zia Martin, the leader of Mortala took him in and raised him after they found him at the scene of the accident. It was a complete fluke that he was found, but Zia saw that the kid had potential from day one. 

“You really don't listen, do you. I tried to tell you that this would happen, but did you listen to me? No. Now it's time to pay up,” Steve purred, holding a knife close to the man in the chair's throat. The man was tied up. 

“El Diablo, please, I didn't do anything!” The man pleaded, Steve pressed the tip of the blade to his chest, his face showing nothing.

“That's exactly my point. You did... NOTHING! I told you to get information on the Demogorgons, Neil, but you failed even that,” Steve told the ex military man. 

“I have a family! Please!” Neil tried to plead. Steve just chuckled and backed up, slowly laughing even more maniacally. Finally he stopped and spread his arms wide.

“You think I give a flying fuck that you have a family?” Steve asked, laughing sadistically. He suddenly stopped and got close, “You should have thought about that before you ignored my orders.” 

“Please, just give me a few more weeks, I won't disappoint you sir,” Neil pleaded. Steve bared his teeth, somewhat reminiscent of a smile. 

“You should be extremely grateful that I'm feeling generous today, you little shit,” Steve growled and then plunged the knife into the arm of the chair right beside the man's arm, making him flinch, “You have 4 weeks, no more, I'll be checking in this time.”

Steve wrenched the knife from the wood and dragged it across Neil's arm, making him hiss in pain as the line started to bleed.

“That's just a pinch compared to what I will do to you if you don't get it done.” Steve growled and turned to the men waiting at the door, “You know what to do with him.”

Steve wiped the blood clean from the knife, listening as his muscle knocked the man out, put a bag over his head and dragged him from the room. The leather clad teen looked at the next person, pressing the tip of his knife to his chin.

“Some people have no manners, am I right?” Steve asked, while dragging the gagged man over and strapping him into the chair, “ I mean, I spare his new wife and stepdaughter and suddenly he thinks he can do what he wants.”

Steve plunged the knife into the man's shoulder, not responding as the man screamed.

“I knew you'd understand. You see, some people are so selfish. I have a gang to run and he's bitching about his family. I mean, I wouldn't know much about family anyway, mine died when I was a kid.”

The man in the chair cried out in pain as Steve slammed his fists across his face a few times. 

“You ready to tell me now?” Steve asked out of breath, the man nodded frantically. Steve removed the gag and let the man speak. He smiled when the man finished his story and pressed a gauze pad gently into the wound, his voice softening. He acted if he were a completely different man. “See? That wasn't so bad.”


	2. El Diablo's Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy learns about El Diablo

Billy was about to leave for school when he heard his father's car door slam. He flinched when a few seconds later the door swung open, smacking against the wall with a bang. He quickly made his way out to his car, and Max joined him wordlessly, hoping to avoid the wrath of Neil Hargrove. Neither noticed the blood while they made their escape.

“What was up with Neil?” Max asked. Billy ignored the question and started the car, pulling out and staying silent all the way to the school. He met with Tommy and Carol by the front entrance. He had only known them a day and he was hanging with them.

“I heard that the Demogorgons are back,” Tommy told the both of them, Billy was intrigued. The Demogorgons? “Word is that El Diablo found some intel on them. I overheard someone at Stacy's party saying that El Diablo is planning on starting a full out war with them.”

“Who is El Diablo? And who are the Demogorgons?” Billy asked, the freckled teen looked at him slack jawed.

“Oh shit! You don't know!” Tommy said, somewhat excitedly. “The Demogorgons are one of the gangs in Hawkins, the other one is Mortala, El Diablo is the leader of Mortala, his real name is Steve Harrington.”

“Steve Harrington? That's not a very tough name, you sure you got your facts right? So far, I'm not scared.” Billy told Tommy. Billy saw something in Tommy's eyes that made him feel scared, the very emotion that he said he wasn't. 

“You should be scared,” Tommy told him, voice suddenly grim, “El Diablo is a psychopath, a sociopath, you name it. He's unpredictable.”

“What's his story?” Billy asked. Tommy seemed happy for the change in subject.

“Steve Harrington was the golden child of Hawkins, he has a brilliant mind, he came from a wealthy family, his father was the most popular lawyer in Indiana. Steve was the envy of all his friends, perfect family, perfect life... until the car accident.

Nobody knows what really happened that day, some say he was always like that and killed his parents, others say that the accident changed him. Anyway, he was taken in by La Bestia, the last leader, and trained. 

Zia died 2 years ago now, Steve took over,” Tommy explained. 

“You want my advice?” Carol asked. Even though Billy didn't care, Carol continued, “Stay as far away from him as humanly possible, you see him coming, run the other way and hope to fuck he doesn't see you.”

“I don't know what he looks like, how do I know if I see him?” 

“Oh you'll know... you'll know.”


	3. Meet El Diablo

Two weeks later:

Steve pulled up to the Hargrove's house in his '79 Trans Am Firebird. He sat in the driveway for a few minutes before turning the engine off and exiting the car. He slid on his aviators and lit up a cigarette before approaching the door and pounding. He waited a minute before lifting his fist to pound on the door again, it was then that he heard a shout and the door opened violently. 

A blond teenager stood in the doorway, his eyebrows furrowed as he saw the man in the doorway. 

“Who the fuck are you?” Steve asked, not expecting to see this beautiful man standing in the doorway... Beautiful? What was going on with him?

“I could ask you the same thing,” The man asked, giving him a once over. Steve looked over the top of his sunglasses and blew smoke into Billy's face.

“I'm looking for Neil Hargrove.” Steve said, his voice somewhat agitated but his face was void of emotion. Billy raised an eyebrow at him. 

“What the fuck do you want with my father?” Billy asked. Steve raised his eyebrows in surprise, the only emotion that he showed in that visit. 

“First off, I want to know why he didn't tell me he had a son, second.... we have some business and I'm here to check in to make sure he's doing as I asked.” Steve told the blond, eyeing him. 

“You look like you're a kid, what business could you possibly have with my father?” Billy started to ask when his father entered the room. 

“El Diablo! I wasn't expecting you for another week!” Neil exclaimed.. Steve stepped into the house and Neil closed the door behind him. They made their way to the kitchen, “Billy. Room. Now.” Steve's mouth turned up into a smirk when he saw Billy's eyes widen slightly at the mention of his name

“Now, now, Neil. Let's be civil here. You shouldn't speak that way in front of such a beautiful specimen, it's not right,” Steve purred, smirking at Billy again while sitting down in a chair. Neil's gaze turned cold as he looked between the gang leader and his own son. 

“I knew you were crazy, I just didn't know you were a fucking fa-” Neil stopped saying the slur as Steve's gaze snapped towards him. 

“You want to finish that word and see where it gets you? Because please, go ahead, I haven't bled someone dry in a month and I could use some fun,” Steve said, his voice never wavering. Neil ducked his head in submission, something that caused Billy's jaw to drop slightly. As far as the blond knew before that, no one controlled Neil, let alone someone who was so much younger than him. 

“Now, let's get down to business, shall we?” Steve asked, completely changing his attitude. The brunet slid the sunglasses off and took another drag of his cigarette while looking at Billy. “Lo siento, Hermoso, you can't listen in on our conversation. Classified.”

“You heard the man, Billy, get out,” Neil hissed at his son. Steve turned to the man, standing up slowly while leaning on the table. 

“You don't talk to him, only I can talk to him while I'm here, you say another negative word to him and I'll slit your throat. Are we clear?” Steve asked, digging the smoldering end of the cigarette into the wound he was give 2 weeks ago.

“Okay!” Neil yelled out. Billy left the room, leaving El Diablo and Neil to talk


	4. Let's Go to War

Billy couldn't believe what had just happened. Maybe Tommy and Carol were wrong about El Diablo, but to be completely honest, he was still scared shitless of him. Billy sat in his room, waiting nervously until he heard the front door slam. He steadied his breathing as the loud footsteps of his father came towards his room. 

Billy stayed calm as his father flung the door open. He looked his father in the eyes as he approached him.

“I wouldn't do that if I were you, you wouldn't want El Diablo finding out would you? He seemed to have taken a liking to me.” Billy said, feigning courage. It worked. His father cried out in frustration and left the room as Max and Susan came home from a shopping trip. 

Max entered a few minutes later, seeing Billy, still in shock, sitting on his bed. She raised an eyebrow.

“I see you've heard of El Diablo too? I had that same look when my friends told me. I heard he's terrifying,” Max told Billy. They had been here 2 weeks and she was just hearing of him now?

“Heard of him?” Billy asked, looking at Max, grabbing her arm, “I fucking met him.”

Max stopped what she was going to say and looked at him to see if he was lying.

“You're shitting me!”

NEXT DAY

“You're shitting me.” Tommy said monotonously when Billy told him and Carol what happened. “I have a hard time believing that a newbie like you met El Diablo in his first 2 weeks in town. What exactly did you say?”

“He asked 'who the fuck are you?' I told him that I could ask him the same thing. Then I asked him what the fuck he wanted with my father,” Billy told them. Tommy rolled his eyes.

“Don't cry wolf Hargrove. There's no way that was him, because if you had spoken to the real El Diablo that way, you'd be dead,” Tommy told him, which made him think... then why wasn't he?

 

\---

Red light shone through the window as the sun started to set. Steve paced in his living room, a cigarette hanging from his lips and his robe flowing behind him. 

This blond had piqued his interest, after all, it wasn't every day that someone had the guts to speak to him like that. He decided right then and there that he respected Billy Hargrove, which was as rare a privilege as they come. Steve only ever respected one other person in his lifetime... his mentor and father figure, Zia. 

He felt a strange feeling in his chest when he thought of the man, it was almost warm and... dare he say longing? He went to his fridge, pulling out a beer and heading back to the couch, laying so his head was on the armrest. 

“Billy Hargrove, you will be the death of me...” Steve spoke softly to the ceiling, he loved the way the name rolled off his tongue. He took a swig of his beer and looked up again. “Billy...”

“Sir we have a problem!” Steve was ripped from his thoughts as one of his goons swung the door open. 

“I swear to fuck if this isn't a matter of life or death I will slit your goddamn throat!” Steve spat, standing in a second. The goon backed up a little in fear before regaining his composure.

“It's the Demogorgons, sir, they're on our side of the tracks, they got in near the south forest.” Steve's eyes narrowed and he pointed towards the door.

“Tell Dallas to get our fighters together and meet me at the quarry thirty minutes on the dot.” He ordered and the goon went running. Steve growled in frustration. “There will be blood tonight.”

The brunet got back into his leather attire and tied a red bandana around his head, the Mortala's sign for battle. When people saw the red bandanas they would take cover, knowing that something was about to go down. 

Steve headed to his Harley, starting it up and heading towards the quarry


	5. Chapter 5

Steve's motorcycle roared as he approached the quarry. His followers grew silent along with the engine.

“What happened, Steve? No one told me shit!” Dallas was the only one allowed to call him by his real name. Steve gathered his gang and stood on top of a log to gain some height.

“All right! I don't have the time to explain the whole fucking situation, but what I can tell you is that the Demogorgons got into our territory. We can't let them get to the city! I need you to form groups and do not leave those groups. If you see any Demogorgons, don't be a fucking hero, come tell Dallas or I or radio us and we will rally everyone else. Now, Dallas will be in the west side of town by Benny's Burgers, I will be in the east by Palace Arcade. Any questions?” Steve asked. He saw a wave of heads shaking. 

“Good. All survivors meet at the high school. If something happens to me, Dallas is in charge. If something happens to him as well, we just keep going down the ranks and hope to fuck that there are survivors to take charge, otherwise this town is fucking screwed.” Steve lit a cigarette and took a drag before jumping down from the log. 

“Stay alive Steve,” Dallas told him. Steve nodded slightly then turned to the gang and thrust a fist into the air.

“Mortala!” Steve shouted, the rest of the gang copied his action.

“Mortala!” They shouted back.

 

*an hour later* 

 

“How we lookin' over there?” Steve asked into his radio. There was static for a brief second before Dallas' finally came through.

“No sign of the Demogorgons on the west side, I think they may have doubled back and headed east towards you, keep an eye out.” Steve glanced around and sighed before answering.

“Copy, keep two groups down there, one by the south, one closer to town, send the rest back this way, I got a bad feeling,” Steve told Dallas, heading towards where a few groups were. He stopped dead when he heard a rustling in the bushes. “Shit.”

“Steve, you okay over there? The radio chatter disappeared,” Dallas' voice suddenly startled Steve, who somehow managed to keep his eyes trained on the bush. 

“Dallas, it's time to haul ass, get the fuck over here,” Steve hissed into the radio. One of his gang noticed his tense posture and his intense gaze into the bushes.

“You okay there boss?” he asked. Steve only moved his hand, gesturing for them to stand up from their spots near campfires. It was dead silent, but Steve's ears managed to hear the faint rustling in the bushes. He saw the scarred face of one of the Demogorgons before his gang did and before he could warn them, they flooded the camps.

“Mortala! No mercy! Keep them away from the town at all cost!”


	6. Steve Can't Take Shit Seriously

Steve was ready as a Demogorgon descended upon him. He whipped out his knife and started slashing at his attacker. He laughed in triumph and he plunged the knife into the scarred person's chest. 

“That's what you get for trespassing in MY territory, fucker,” Steve growled into it's ear, then pushed it to the ground. He called his attacker 'it' because the Demogorgons were scarred beyond any sort of recognition. There were rumours that they were an experiment gone wrong in Hawkins Lab. 

“Help!” Steve turned as one of his own cried out in fear. Anger flared in his eyes and he ran towards the Demogorgon attacking the youngest member of his crew, Dylan, and crouched low hurtling into the beast and taking it down. He didn't feel the knife being driven into his side even after the thing was dead.

“You okay, kid?” Steve asked, turning to Dylan with blood on his abdomen, the kid watched him, scared.

“I'm okay, El Diablo, it's you that needs a medic,” Dylan told him, gesturing to the wound in his side. Steve moved his coat to cover the blood. 

“I'm fine, go to the high school, once people start arriving, start a head count. I won't have any more deaths than necessary.” Steve ordered, Dylan nodded and ran in that direction, dodging the fighting people. 

“El Diablo...” Steve heard a raspy voice say from behind him, the next thing he felt was a sharp blow to the back of his head and he fell unconscious. 

When Steve opened his eyes next, his head was pounding. He tried moving but his hands were restrained to the chair arms, he glanced around the room and saw a man standing in the corner. He didn't look like one of the Demogorgons. 

“Who the fuck are you?” He asked, feigning confidence. The man may not have been like the things they were fighting but his malicious smile was, in a way, worse.

“I'm Doctor Martin Brenner, you may have heard of me.” The man said, his voice unwavering. 

“No, I can't say I have,” Steve told him smugly, cocking his head with a slight smirk on his face. Brenner's fist drove across his face and his head snapped to the side. Brenner then grabbed Steve's face and leaned towards him.

“Don't mouth off to me, boy. We both know you're not as strong as you think you are,” Brenner hissed. Steve raised an eyebrow.

“You sure? I mean, I've had a lot worse than this. I mean Zia was a good mentor and all but he had a mean right hook if you know what I mean.” Steve said, shrugging slightly. His head whipped to the side again with another throw of Brenner's fist.

“Two words Marty-poo: anger management. You might want to look into it,” Steve said, spitting blood from his mouth onto the floor. Another hit. 

“Start talking kid, you're going to have to drop your false bravado sooner or later.” Brenner growled. 

“About what? You gotta be more specific,” Steve stated, egging the angry man on. The man left for a moment and Steve just stared at the door. “Did you forget what you were torturing me for? If so, could you drop me off at the high school until you remember?”

Brenner came in a moment later, and laid out a bunch of tools out on the table. He picked up a tool from the table, putting it on display as he walked over. 

“Do you know what these are, El Diablo?” He asked.

“Sidecutters. Yes, what am I, five? I was thinking about them on the way over.” Steve said, “Now, if you could just tell me what you want maybe I could get an idea of-”

Steve closed his eyes as the sidecutters disappeared and suddenly a nail was being driven through his hand. Brenner smirked at the final sign of pain that the kid let out. He followed up with a punch to his ribs.

“Seriously?¿Qué putas? Can't we just talk this out like civilized people?” Steve asked once he regained his composure and breath, then started laughing, remembering back to when Billy's dad asked him almost the exact same thing. 

“You're a danger to everyone out there, Steve Harrington, you destroy everything and everyone you touch. You're unlovable, kid.” Brenner told him. 

“So? What else is new Marty?” Steve laughed. What about Billy? They seemed to have a connection. Either way Billy was going to be his. When he snapped back to reality he realized his captor had been saying something. “I'm sorry, I wasn't listening, did you say something princessa?” 

“Just tell me what you're planning with the Mortalas.” Brenner hissed, sick of Steve.

“Nunca. No quiero. Lo siento,” Steve said, smirking.

“Very well, then you've got hell coming your way you little shit.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, my spring break has been hectic and I had to go to my grandpa's funeral a few days ago. Sorry again

Steve sighed in relief as the man left the room and then frowned as he felt something warm and wet on his side. He looked down and swore as he saw the knife wound he had received earlier oozing blood. 

“You coming back soon Marty? If you are can you bring me a bandaid...” Steve looked down at the wound and then back to the door, “Or maybe like 20.”

The kid felt his stomach drop when he saw the man come in with an iron bar that was red hot. He continued to keep his emotions in check externally.

“That works too. Bandaids are too messy anyway, just slip right off ya know? Cauterizing the wound is much better on my part, it means I won't bleed out when I finally escape and gut you like a fucking pig.” Steve said pleasantly, causing Brenner's face to contort slightly. The contortion turned into a sadistic smile as he pressed the rod against the wound.

Steve managed to bite back a scream as a searing pain erupted from the wound site. He squeezed his eyes shut.

 

Billy paced in his room. No one had seen El Diablo since the battle with the Demogorgons which was now 2 days ago. Ever since Steve went missing, Billy's father hit him even more than before. He wasn't even sure how he was currently standing at the moment. 

“Can you please stop pacing? I can hear you from my room.” Billy jumped when he heard Max's voice coming from the doorway.

“Fuck off,” Billy muttered, biting his thumbnail. Max sighed and walked up to him, halting him by grabbing his shoulders. 

“What girl dumped you that got you like this? You were so much nicer this past week then all of a sudden you lock yourself away in your dungeon without a word,” Max told him. 

“There was no girl, someone that I liked went missing and I'm pretty sure they liked me too,” Billy replied. He saw when it clicked in his stepsister's mind. 

“Does this someone happen to be yea high, fluffy hair, brunet, goes by El Diablo?” She asked nonchalantly. Billy froze, watching her expression as he hesitantly nodded. She gave him a small smile and chuckled, which confused him.

“Aren't you going to yell or something? Tell me that I'm a freak of nature?” Billy asked, Max laughed, startling him even more.

“I mean, I'm not denying it but you are a freak of nature but that's just your personality. I'm honestly relieved, here I was worrying about you procreating and having a bunch of little Billy Hargroves running around. Thank fuck that's not gonna happen.” Max told him. Billy smiled at her comment. 

Max opened her mouth and then paused, closing it again and frowning. 

“What's that look? I don't like that look,” Billy told her nervously. 

“Okay, I'm going to tell you something, you have to swear on your life that you won't tell anyone and you have to believe what I tell you okay?” Max told him.

“Okay?” Billy told her hesitantly. Max nodded and then opened her mouth to speak.

“I'm friends with this girl, she was an experiment at Hawkins Lab, she has powers.” She told him, Billy raised an eyebrow.

“What kind of powers we talking here?” Billy asked slowly. 

“Telekenisis, and she's been able to locate people before,” Max said. A range of emotions crossed Billy's face.

“Fuck, Max! Why didn't you tell me this before?” Billy asked, dragging Max out of the room. 

 

“Steven, I told you, you can make this all easier on yourself, just tell me what I want to know.” 

“I seriously have no idea what the fuck you are talking about!” Steve spoke as if he were speaking to a toddler. He had decided to keep changing his story every time Brenner asked so he wouldn't find out. This way had blood involved. 

Steve grunted as the brass knuckle clad hands were punched into his face yet again. Brenner had gone from hardware tools to more typical torture instruments. 

“Everyone has a weakness, Steven, I assure you that I will find yours,” Brenner told him, Steve copied his facial expression in a mocking manner.

“You can try, Marty, but my weaknesses were beaten out of me when I was 12 and Zia thought I was too soft. You see, because of my eidetic memory, I didn't want to kill anyone, I kept remembering the screaming of my parents as they died. He used that to his advantage.” Steve told him. He smirked when he saw the slight look of horror in his eyes. The horror melted away and he smiled.

“Fuck, you're more damaged than we first thought.”

“I thought we already established that. I can't break because I was already broken and put back together with different parts, stronger parts. You can't break me, they've tried.” Steve spat, leaning forward, inches away from the man's face. 

“Well they aren't me.” A man opened a door and pulled out an IV bag filled with a clear liquid and hung it on a pole that Steve didn't realize was beside him. He tried to squirm away as the henchman brought the needle on the line towards his arm. He could do nothing as the needle slid into a visible vein. “Now, in a few minutes you will start to feel a bit strange, don't worry, it is to be expected.”

“What the fuck did you just give me?” Steve hissed. 

“Ketamine,” The man told him, making Steve's stomach drop. This wasn't good.


	8. A Traitor in Our Midsts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy and Max call the party together for help. Poor Steve is whumped again. Maybe he'll finally be rescued

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Funny joke:  
> What has ADHD and hasn't updated in months?  
> Me, the answer is me.
> 
> Sorry it took a while to update, I hope you enjoy

Brenner was right about one thing, within minutes, Steve was as high as a kite. 

“Steve...” Steve's head snapped to the direction from which the voice whispering his name came from. He knew that voice. 

“Steve?” Steve whimpered as the next voice spoke clearer, he definitely knew that voice. His father. 

“Stevie, open your eyes kiddo.” Steve hadn't even realized he had closed his eyes until he heard those words. When he opened his eyes, he was in the back of a vehicle. 

“Mom? Dad? You're here?” Steve asked, his mother turned around in the passenger seat to look at him.

“Of course, silly, where else would we be? Did you have a nightmare?” His mother asked softly. Steve almost forgot what her voice sounded like. 

“Must've been one hell of a nightmare with the way you were moving around,” His father told him gently. He remembered this day well, back when he was 11, the golden boy of Hawkins, he was extremely gifted.

“Dad, please stop the car, something bad is going to happen,” Steve asked, remembering what was going to happen just over a minute later.

“It's okay, Stevie, nothing's going to happen,” his father told him, looking at him through the rearview mirror. 

“Please, you don't understand, you need to pull over.” Steve pleaded, slowly getting more desperate. His father just chuckled. Steve felt his heart speed up when a truck came around the corner. The truck coming towards them felt agonizingly slow like the world around him slowed down, or he was moving too fast. He watched as the hood of the car crumpled like tinfoil then it went black.

“This is your fucking fault, Steve,” his father's now wet voice spoke. As Steve opened his eyes again, all he could see was blood; on the pavement, on the dash, even on the front of the truck that hit them. 

He saw his mother and father, blood drenching their bodies, wounds everywhere.

Steve shut his eyes against the memory, fighting the drugs causing the hallucinations, slowly riding out his parents' deaths 3 more times before coming back to reality

“You're going to wish you hadn't fucking done that, Marty, I swear I will end you slowly and painfully,” Steve growled, his forehead dripping with sweat. 

 

“Maxine, I swear to fuck, if you don't tell me where we're going, I'm turning this damn car around and heading home.” Billy told Max, they had been driving for hours but she hadn't told him where they were going.

“Hopper's cabin, okay? Happy now?” Max retorted then turned to the radio in her hand, “We have a code red, meet us at Hopper's cabin.”

“Not really but at least I know you're not trying to guide us off a cliff,” Billy told her after she finished. They reached the dilapidated cabin after twenty more minutes of driving. They approached and knocked on the door, waiting a few seconds before the door swung open. 

“Why did you call a code red? What's he doing here?” Hopper pointed an accusing finger in Billy's direction. 

“We're going to save El Diablo and we need the party's help. And he's here because...” Max trailed off looking at Billy who sighed.

“I care about him, okay? Now let's get on with this.” Billy growled. Hopper reluctantly let him inside to where the kids were all sitting around the table. 

“Dallas is a traitor! We all know that! We need El Diablo back!” Lucas yelled across the table.

“What the hell are you talking about? El Diablo was worse than Dallas!” Mike yelled back. Lucas was red with anger.

“Dallas is going to hand us over to the Demogorgons! At least El Diablo tried to keep us safe, if the Demogorgons take over, Hawkins is done for!” Now it was Dustin's turn to yell. Hopper had had enough of the arguing.

“Everybody shut the fuck up!” He yelled, slamming his fist down onto the table. The party immediately quieted. “Lucas and Dustin are right, I've had many reports of Dallas being in contact with the Demogorgons, he's also threatening the rest of the Mortalas to do what he says. They think El Diablo's   
dead.”

“And how do we know he's not dead?” Mike asked. Billy decided to intervene at that moment.

“He's not dead because one: he wouldn't die without a hell of a fight and two: he can't die when we need him the most.”

“Alright, we need a plan. We need to get him home,” Hopper stated.

*one week later*

“I got him,” El said, she had a blindfold over her eyes. The party went and gathered the needed items. “Hawkins Lab.”

“Is he okay?” Billy asked, his voice shaking at the end. He could see her eyebrows furrow slightly. Joyce put her hand gently on Billy's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.

“Something's wrong with him,” she said softly as she took the blindfold off. 

“Don't worry, sweetie, he'll be okay,” Joyce whispered to Billy. 

“Okay, let's go get him!” Hopper loaded the kids into his and Joyce's vehicles and they were off

 

“I've told you a million times, Marty, you'll never break me,” Steve panted, his shoulder hurt like hell; it was probably dislocated. He had never hurt so much in his entire life, he didn't know how he wasn't dead. The world seemed to be spinning from blood loss. He was covered almost head to toe in his own blood and his side was bleeding.

Steve's head snapped up weakly when he heard crashing come from outside, Brenner turned around.

“Wait here, kid.” 

“Can't go anywhere.” With that, Brenner left the room. The crashing noises continued and finally stopped. The door opened slowly.

Steve watched in confusion as a girl, who couldn't have been older than 13, come into the room, a thin trail of blood emerged from her nose. This had to be another one of Brenner's tricks, or maybe it was just a hallucination due to the lack of blood in his body. 

“Who the fuck are you?” Steve asked, with less bite than he wanted. The girl walked toward him and he tried to pull back as she put her hand on his arm. She frowned.

“Hurt.” Was all the girl said. 

“Excellent deduction Sherlock, did the blood and bruises give that away?” Steve asked, thinking that the girl wasn't very smart. The girl shook her head.

“Hurt.” She said and placed two fingers on his forehead. Steve looked at her strangely.

“Trust me kid, I know... I know.” Steve said, his voice lowering. She flicked her head to the side and the bonds around his wrists and ankles came loose. Once he removed the bonds completely, she held out her hand to him. He eyed the hand cautiously then took it hesitantly, hiding his wound from her. She helped him stand up then he followed her out the door where he saw all the guards unconscious or dead on the floor.

They walked right out the front doors and the girl eyed a car.

“Can you drive?” The girl asked. He shrugged, wincing as it aggravated his dislocated shoulder. 

A car door popped open and he got into the driver's seat, the girl climbed into the passenger seat. Steve popped open the cover over the steering column and hot wired the vehicle. He pulled out of the lot and started driving. 

“What's your name, kid?” Steve asked. The kid gave him a small smile.

“My true name is Jane, but most people call me Eleven or El. I didn't know my real name until recently because of the man who hurt you.” The girl told him. Steve turned briefly to look at her.

“Well, what do you want me to call you?” He asked, the girl frowned. Steve didn't think she'd ever been asked that before. 

“El.” She finally decided. Steve smiled and turned to her.

“Nice to meet you El, my true name is Steve, but most people call me El Diablo.” He told the kid, using her answer formatting. 

“What do you want me to call you?” She asked him, using the same question. At that moment it was certain that neither of them had asked what they wanted to be known as. It also just occurred to Steve that the only reason he wanted to be known as El Diablo was because that was the name that was put on him, Zia punished him when he used his real name.

“You can call me Steve.” He told her. “How did you find me?”

El frowned and then leaned over putting her hand over his heart. Steve raised an eyebrow and she smiled. 

“Billy told Max, who asked me to help, my family is waiting a few miles down the road.” El told him. Steve sighed in relief.

“And your family can help us, right?” Steve asked, shaking the dark spots from his vision. 

“Yes.” El told him, then pointed to a truck and a car surrounded by two adults, five kids and three teens, one of them being Billy. 

“Good,” Steve said, darkness still swimming in his vision. He pulled up and stopped the vehicle. El hopped out and ran to hug the man that he recognized as Chief Hopper. 

Steve opened the door slowly and turned himself, the adrenaline of the escape wearing off. He tried to step out but fell into a heap on the pavement. Billy ran over and kneeled next to him, pulling him towards himself. Steve's arm weakly wrapped around his.

“It's okay, it's going to be okay.”


	9. Steve is a needy child, Billy is protective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang takes Steve back to the cabin

“We need to get him to a hospital,” Joyce stated after giving the unconscious teen a once over. 

“No, we can't let anyone know he's alive yet, they might try to come for him, I know Steve can beat them but not the way he is right now.” Hopper told her.

“You know how messed up that sounds right? I mean, we're basically putting the fate of Hawkins onto a teenagers shoulders.” Joyce responded. Hopper sighed, running a hand through his hair while Joyce tried to patch up some of Steve's more serious wounds.

“I know, but he knows them better than any of us.” 

“I think we're forgetting about something, who's going to tell him about Dallas?” Billy interrupted. Hopper let out a breath, running a hand over his face. 

“We'll figure that out later, right now we need to get him back to the cabin so we can treat him properly.” Billy just nodded and scooped Steve up into his arms. Steve whimpered as he was lifted from the ground. 

“Hey, it's okay, you're safe now,” Billy told Steve softly, “Just hold on, okay? Just hold on.”

Billy sat in the back of Hopper's vehicle, keeping pressure on the worst of Steve's wounds. They arrived back at the cabin soon after. 

Steve was placed gently onto a spare cot. Billy sat next to the wounded boy as Joyce started patching his wounds. Steve whimpered as Joyce cleaned a deep cut on his cheekbone that was definitely going to scar. 

“That cut's going to need stitches, I've asked my oldest son to bring over my suture kit, he should be here soon,” Joyce told Billy, trying to keep him sane. The teen just nodded. 

The door opened about half an hour later and two teens stepped in, one obviously Joyce's son but Billy didn't know the girl that came in with him, though she looked somewhat familiar. Billy shifted closer to the wounded teen. 

“Holy shit!” Exclaimed the girl that just walked in, “Is that who I think it is?”

Billy glared at the girl, and stood up suddenly when she took a step closer, he moved himself between the girl and Steve protectively. 

“You should back up if you know what's good for you,” Billy growled. “Who are you?” 

“I'm Nancy, Nancy Wheeler, that's Jonathan. Who are you?” Billy eyed them dangerously, not answering Nancy's question. Joyce got up from the cut she was tending to and took the suture kit from Jonathan, Billy hadn't noticed that before. Joyce guided Billy back to Steve's side and quickly spoke to the teens.

“I think, for now, you shouldn't go near Steve, Billy is still in shock from all of this and could be unpredictable.” 

“B'lly?” Billy's head snapped towards Steve, who was trying to fight Joyce's touch. Billy grabbed his hand and he calmed down. “Mi amor?”

“It's okay, I'm here, I'm here.”

Billy sat by Steve's side for hours, moving only to relieve himself but other that that, he never moved away from him. Joyce and Hopper took turns watching over Steve and Billy. It was 2 days in when Billy's eyelids finally started drooping with sleep. No one knew how he managed to stay awake this long. Hopper moved Billy to the couch when he finally fell asleep and Dustin joined in watching over Steve around 10 hours after Billy fell asleep. 

“Billy? When did you get so short?” Dustin was startled as the semi-conscious teen spoke to him. 

“I'm not Billy.”

“Not Billy. Who? Want Billy.” Steve spoke in fragmented sentences.

“I'm Dustin, I'm a friend of Billy's sister. Billy's sleeping right now,” Dustin told the teen. Steve grabbed Dustin's wrist.

“Want Billy!” Steve shouted, getting aggressive.

“Hopper?” Dustin asked loudly, startling the chief who dozed off in his chair. Hopper's eyes shot open. Somehow, Billy heard his cries and emerged from his slumber and moved across the room, half asleep. He finally got to Steve and laid down beside him, calming him down entirely. Steve let go of Dustin's wrist and turned to snuggle into Billy's side.

**Author's Note:**

> sorry I haven't worked on my other stories, I haven't forgotten and I'll try to get to them soon


End file.
